Financial Perspective: Now that is where the catch lies. There are hundreds and thousands of parts in a plane with the highest orders of complexity. The fact that only 3/4 countries make fighter jet engines, shows something about the actual complexity. Now there are three main components to the cost, cost of units(variable cost), cost of maintenance (Variable Cost+Fixed cost) and cost of R&D(Fixed cost) that you did to develop the plane and all of its components. Now all these costs are to be extracted across no. of units produced. Obviously this also takes into account of labor costs and additional costs of sophistication. Lastly, not to forget the profit, after all war/killing is as much of a business as selling coffee by starbucks. And this is the an area where Rafale takes a beating. US with very very large domestic consumption and large clientele of numerous satellite states (middle east, pacific, Europe etc) and with a very long history of aircraft development is able to bring the costs components to a lower amount while maintaining same or even higher profits. Then another catch to the story was the cost of Misc items that was played by Dassault to appear as L1 provider. To further complicate matters the Rupee depreciated against Euro since 2010(or 2007) when the results were announced (when the competition started). So the costs of the entire package that India was envisaging including ToT, maintenance and spares would have gone in close to 30 Bn. Mind you this is close to 2/3rd of India’s defense budget. Even then tying up such amounts for only one type of plane is not the best decision financially and that’s why the numbers were cut. The G2G deal was further announced to eliminate any chances of kickbacks. I do hear rumors that congress did get kickbacks but obviously I can’t prove anything but considering their the history of UPA 2 it was not impossible either. There is a great deal of opportunity for bribes, kick back and off sets in a deal that too 10 years to complete and neither Dassault or India is any stranger to bribery or corruption.

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This should have appeared on the Rafale deal but have I been banned from that and the PAKFA, expect I will be saying farewell to youall soon.

Spending will increased to 2% of GDP as planned, but that doesn't change anything if the government limits the roles and operational capabilities of the forces. The government and the public has to change the view on military and conflicts, but with German past and fake wars like Iraq it's not that easy to change policy.

The first Eurofighter Typhoon and Hawk advanced jet trainer aircraft for the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) have been formally presented to the customer in a ceremony held at BAE Systems’ Military Air & Information business in the UK.
An invited audience of more than 100 delegates witnessed the event at BAE Systems’ site in Warton, Lancashire, including His Excellency Sayyid Badr bin Saud al Busaidi, the Sultanate of Oman’s Minister Responsible For Defence Affairs (MRDA) and the Commander of the Royal Air Force of Oman, Air Vice-Marshal Mattar bin Ali bin Mattar Al Obaidani. The event was followed by a fly-past of a Royal Air Force of Oman Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.

Chris Boardman, Managing Director, BAE Systems Military Air & Information, said: “We are privileged and honoured to be able to celebrate the completion of the first Eurofighter Typhoon and Hawk aircraft in the presence of the Minister Responsible for Defence Affairs (Sultanate of Oman) and the Commander and representatives of the Royal Air Force of Oman. BAE Systems has a long and proud history of working in Oman, which has been built over more than half a century. Today’s event represents a further strengthening of that special relationship.

“We believe that, in Eurofighter Typhoon and Hawk, Oman has added the most advanced combat jet and proven training aircraft available in the world to its military portfolio. We look forward to continuing to work in close partnership with Oman’s Ministry of Defence as deliveries of the first aircraft begin.”

The Sultanate of Oman announced its decision to purchase 12 Eurofighter Typhoon and eight Hawk aircraft in December 2012. Deliveries of the first aircraft are due to begin later this year.

Eurofighter Typhoon is the most advanced multi-role combat aircraft currently available on the world market and can be deployed in the full spectrum of air operations including air policing, peace support and high intensity conflict.

Hawk is the lead-in fast jet trainer aircraft of choice for 18 international customers. A total of 1,020 Hawk aircraft have been sold or are on order around the globe.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is in line for significant upgrades of its weapons, with firing tests of MBDA's Brimstone missile from the aircraft marking the beginning of that process, according to industry officials.

If the integration goes well, the missile is slated to be the aircraft's go-to weapon for precision ground strikes, said Rob Thornley, a sales and business development executive with MBDA...

...According to Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH spokesman Adam Morrison, the first firing of a Brimstone missile is “imminent,” with nine of the weapons scheduled to be launched over the summer as part of the test regimen.

Next year, with testing complete, formal evaluation by the government customers can begin, he added.

While the United Kingdom will be the first to employ the missile on its Eurofighter Typhoon jets in 2018, other countries using it are expected to follow suit later.

Germany, the U.K., Italy and Spain are considered partner nations in the program. Austria, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait are customer nations.

In addition to the Brimstone for close-air support missions, MBDA is outfitting the jet with the Meteor missile for “air dominance,” the Storm Shadow missile for deep strike, the SPEAR for stand-off strike and the Marte ER weapon against ships, according to a briefing slide shown to reporters...

Austria to Retire Eurofighter Combat JetsAustria will buy a new fleet of 18 supersonic combat planes that could save it more than $2 billion

By
Robert Wall
July 7, 2017 6:27 a.m. ET

LONDON—The Austrian government Friday said it would buy a new fleet of 18 supersonic combat planes and retire its controversial Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets in a move it says could save more than $2 billion.

Airbus has denied wrongdoing and said it was cooperating with authorities. It is one of several corruption probes Europe’s largest aerospace company is battling.

Suspicions of corruption were raised as early as 2002, before the contract was completed, but remained unsubstantiated until 2006, when a parliamentary committee in Vienna identified suspect payments apparently related to the sale. At the time, it had little evidence of the rationale behind the payments and investigations continued.

Austrian defense minister Hans Peter Doskozil on Friday said in a statement that “we need to get the escalating costs of the Eurofighter under control and minimize the enormous cost risks associated with it—in the interests of the taxpayer and also in relation to the other branches of the armed forces.”

Austria had been evaluating its combat aircraft plans with the pending retirement of the more-than 40-year old Saab 105OE trainers also used for air surveillance.

It had considered buying a replacement plane and upgrading the Eurofighter Typhoons to add combat capability. Austria has early versions of the plane that don’t sport many of the capabilities other air forces such as the U.K. and Germany have in more modern versions of the plane.

But the government has determined buying a replacement plane for both the Saab and the Eurofighter would be €100 million ($114.2 million) to €2 billion cheaper depending on which new plane it buys. Those savings estimates are based on a total cost including operations to 2049 and reflect the higher upfront cost involved in buying a new plane. Austria said it would now move to a single-plane type and buy 18 new supersonic jets, 15 single-seat planes and three dual-seaters.

Airbus said the decision was one for the Austrian government. It added only that “the Eurofighter works very well for all other customers.”

The new plane would be introduced in Austria in the 2020 to 2023 timeframe, an Austrian Defense Ministry official said. The government said it would start talking to potential bidders. Potential bidders could include Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. , as well as Sweden’s Saab AB and France’s Dassault Aviation . A purchase decision isn’t expected before next year.

The potential order adds to a growing list of competitions in Europe for new combat planes. Switzerland, Belgium and Finland are among other countries in the region considering buying new jet fighters.